In a 2009 season marked by turmoil and triumph, Phoenix's Diana Taurasi talked about reaching a point in her life and career where she really was thinking about her legacy.
Taurasi, who will turn 28 in June, is still in her peak-performance years, but she knows that the sand goes through the hourglass more relentlessly than athletes sometimes fully realize. To that end, she said she wanted to focus on winning championships.
She got her second as a WNBA player after a hard-fought finals series with Indiana. This year, Taurasi will look to repeat as a WNBA champion but also make up for one of the few disappointments of her career.
In 2006, neither Taurasi nor anyone else on Team USA played particularly well in the World Championship semifinals, and the Americans lost to Russia. An ensuing bronze medal was marginal consolation at best for Taurasi, who then helped the Americans back to the top of the podium for gold in the 2008 Olympics.
It's time for the World Championship again, and Taurasi would certainly love to finish off a title for Phoenix and then, in quick succession, do the same thing for Team USA.
If she's to win another championship this year for the Mercury, though, she'll do it without Cappie Pondexter, who got her wish and was traded to New York. It's an enormous loss for the Mercury, but the three-way deal with Chicago brought Candice Dupree to Phoenix.
Dupree gives the Mercury another fluid post player to work with Taurasi. Whether Phoenix's up-tempo system works as well without the improvisational excellence of Pondexter remains to be seen. But
The Mercury would seem to have a very good chance to become the first WNBA franchise to repeat since the Los Angeles Sparks did it in 2001 and '02. Here's a projection for how things might go in 2010.
Western Conference predicted order of finish
1. Phoenix: Pondexter might be gone, but Mercury veterans Penny Taylor and Tangela Smith will be back with Taurasi. And DeWanna Bonner, in her second WNBA season, might move beyond her sixth-player role. The Mercury really have to be strong for the closing stretch of the regular season, because the schedule is not kind. Phoenix plays five of its last six games on the road.
2. Los Angeles: Life without Lisa Leslie will require team unity, which seemed at least a little shaky at times last season. The Sparks need the kind of chemistry that not all their players have necessarily been known for consistently fostering. However, Ticha Penicheiro (the longtime Sacramento point guard in her first season with the Sparks) is one of those players who is known for facilitating good vibes, and the team's overall talent is extensive.
3. Seattle: Truth is, I might be really underestimating Seattle. The Storm have all their players in camp the week before the season starts (a rarity in the WNBA) and all-world Lauren Jackson appears healthy. Svetlana Abrosimova, who didn't play in the WNBA last season, is now with the Storm, as is Le'Coe Willingham, who came as a free agent from Phoenix. Both could be important additions for Seattle.
4. Minnesota: Can new coach Cheryl Reeve, new addition Lindsay Whalen and a healthy Seimone Augustus get the Lynx back into the playoffs for the first time since 2004? This is for the most part a very young team, which is why the acquisition of veterans such as Whalen, Rebekkah Brunson and Hamchetou Maiga-Ba is so important (the latter two were formerly with Sacramento, which folded in November). Along with Augustus, they are the only Lynx players with more than two years of WNBA experience.
5. San Antonio: Did the Silver Stars need to make a few more changes in the offseason to be in the hunt for the playoffs this summer? Can Becky Hammon at 33 continue to be the force she has been since coming to the Alamo City? Is this team going to be good enough in the post to win enough against interior-loaded West teams? If the Silver Stars have good answers to these questions, they can climb into one of the coveted top-four spots in the conference.
6. Tulsa: If the Shock roster had stayed mostly intact in the move from Detroit, this season would be a different story. As it is, Tulsa is likely to have a difficult time staying out of the West cellar -- even if the players adjust well to new coach Nolan Richardson's system. That doesn't mean the Shock are going to be a bad team; in fact, they might prove pretty entertaining to watch. But victories still might be elusive.
Eastern Conference predicted order of finish
1. Connecticut: Mike Thibault accommodated Lindsay Whalen's trade request, as he did for Katie Douglas a few years ago. But in parting with Whalen and the 2010 No. 2 draft pick (which turned out to be Monica Wright), Thibault received top draft pick Tina Charles and her former UConn teammate, Renee Montgomery. Thibault also got two key additions from the defunct Monarchs: guard Kara Lawson and forward DeMya Walker.
2. New York: Something tells us that this won't be another summer for Liberty jokes. Anne Donovan will coach this team while readying for a move to Seton Hall, but that might not be too much of a distraction. With Cappie Pondexter coming via trade and Nicole Powell via the Monarchs' dispersal draft, New York added dynamic (to say the least) offensive standouts. And the Liberty brought in veteran experience with Taj McWilliams-Franklin.
3. Indiana: Overseas commitments might mean enough late arrivals to hurt the Fever a bit early on. Once everyone is in place, Indiana probably won't look a great deal different than last season. But can Indiana replicate its 2009 success, when the Fever won the Eastern Conference? Maybe, but the rest of the conference appears to be stronger this year than last, when for much of the regular season Indiana dominated its East foes.
4. Washington: In 2009, the Mystics made the playoffs with a losing record, having the tiebreaker for the final spot over fellow 16-18 teams Chicago and Connecticut. Then Washington was swept by Indiana. For the Mystics to make the postseason again but have a longer stay, they'll need to avoid any more devastating injury issues -- such as the loss of Alana Beard (ankle), who is expected to miss the entire 2010 season. Katie Smith's move from the Shock to D.C. should give the Mystics a boost of veteran savvy. But questions about scoring firepower in the post will need to be answered.
5. Atlanta: The Dream were one of the better stories of the 2009 season, improving from a 4-30 record their first season to 18-16 and making the playoffs. Brazilians Iziane Castro Marques and Erika de Souza both had the best seasons of their WNBA careers. Will they and 2009 league rookie of the year Angel McCoughtry play as well this season? Will the reunited Miller twins, Kelly and Coco, also give the team a boost? And how healthy/motivated will Chamique Holdsclaw be?
6. Chicago: The Sky had the best record of their four seasons in the WNBA last year at 16-18. This summer, the Sky move to Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., and leading scorer Candice Dupree is no longer with the team; she was traded to Phoenix, and the deal brought New York's Shameka Christon to the Sky. Key questions are whether Sylvia Fowles, who has battled injuries, can stay relatively healthy for a whole season, and whether rookie Epiphanny Prince can be an immediately effective scorer.
Mechelle Voepel, a regular contributor to ESPN.com, can be reached at mvoepel123@yahoo.com. Read her blog at http://voepel.wordpress.com.